This Moment was Held for Me

“Mia! Look at me!” cried my Mom as she pointed a camera in my face. She was snapping photo after photo as I got ready for Graduation. We were to wear our school uniforms for the last time. My hands quivered with a mixture of excitement and nerves as I tied my blue school ribbon in my hair.
“Darling!” she called again to get my attention. The camera flashed and my eyes blinked to readjust. When I opened them she was smiling down at the camera screen, looking back on the photos she’d just taken. Mom and I had finally taken a step forward in our relationship. She was less snappy and angry with me; a sign which made me think she had finally forgiven me. We both just wanted to move on. And tonight, I was hoping that we really could. She was going to meet Frank again, and I wanted to talk to her about a possible relationship with him.
“You look beautiful in these pictures,” she said admiringly.
I felt like I had come full circle. As Mom took photos of me getting ready, it reminded me of the night Amanda and I had gone out to Rics to film the tape that would then lead me to Frank. Maybe it was just the nerves that was making me sentimental. I sighed, stuck in my thoughts.
“Mia?” Mom asked as she heard me, “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I said, “Just a little nervous. I haven’t seen my friends in a while.”
She nodded, “I want you to enjoy tonight. It’s your graduation, after all.”
“Frank’s going to be there,” I reminded her quietly.
“I know honey,” she said, “I don’t want you to think I hate him or anything. It’s just a shame the way things happened between you and him.”
I looked up at her hopelessly; not knowing what to say.
She looked at me seriously before asking, “Well, have you heard from him?”
I shrugged, “There’s no real way to hear from him. It’s not like I have my phone, and I don’t see him at school.”
She nodded solemnly and said, “Tonight you two can talk at the dinner.”
“Mom,” I breathed out in an attempt to shake the butterflies in my stomach, “I don’t really know how Frank is going to act towards me. I don’t know if he’s still angry at me. But if he still wants to be my friend…or maybe even my boyfriend…will you allow it?” I waited in anticipation of her answer.
She blinked a few times as she collected her thoughts.
“Mia,” she began, “Last time when I made up all those rules and said you could have a boyfriend..I did it with the intention of deterring you from having a boyfriend. I regret that because it caused you to then be secretive behind my back. I should have been upfront with you from the beginning and explained that I wasn’t ready yet to let you have a boyfriend…then in turn you may have been open with me.”
I nodded and waited for her to continue.
“So, Mia,” she sighed, “I’ve realized that you’re not a little girl anymore. You’re old enough to have feelings for people and to want a relationship. I can’t stop you anymore. As long as you’re responsible, and are honest with me, then I’ll gladly let you have a boyfriend.”
I breathed out in relief, “Really?!” I quickly added with a laugh, “With no crazy rules?”
She shook her head, “I promise no crazy rules,” and said with a smile, “I’ll try and be a normal mother this time.”
I gave her a hug, “Mom, this means so much to me.”
She smiled and picked the camera up, “I’ll grab my bag now, and then we can leave.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said softly to her, still touched by what had just happened.
“Oh, and Mom?” I called out to her just before she left the room.
She spun around, “Yes?”
“For the record, I’ll always be your little girl.”
She smiled at me, equally touched, and sighed, “Thanks, Mia.”